Where did you get the recipe?

Generally 100% vinegar works with most low-acid products for a safe relish, but in this case you have 14 cups of product for a mere 2 cups of vinegar. I would be concerned that the liquid leached from the vegetables would dilute the vinegar to an unsafe point or, conversely, that the relish would be quite dry, presenting density issues. I can't be sure which, not having made it, but as it stands, it's not a recipe I'm comfortable with.

The best thing to do is to compare the proportions in this recipe with a similar vegetable (not green tomato) relish but perhaps a cucumber-based relish in the Ball Blue Book or other reliable up-to-date resource and make necessary adjustments to maintain the same proportions.

For example, here's a Pickle Relish, 16 cups product to 6 cups vinegar.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Pickle Relish

sorry, I doubled the recipe and forgot to post the vinegar and sugar doubled. It should have read 5 c. sugar and 4c. vinegar. but that doesn't sound like the 6c. your recipe is reccommending.

cateyanne ...
if you're looking for a pepper relish, you might try the one from the Univ of CA/Davis site below ... I was concerned about the ratio and eMailed Dr Andress ..
her reply:

"The University of California publication on peppers is still the same version they have on their own public website, and I know of no reason to question their recipes based on what I see.
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8004.pdf

The Pepper Relish is adapted from our Univ. of GA So Easy to Preserve book, converting the 'number' of peppers and onions to volume measures. (the conversions are their work, not ours) The original says 2 dozen bell peppers and 7 medium onions. We are moving away from using 'numbers' of food ingredients to weight or volume measures, but we have some older ones in So Easy to Preserve not converted yet. We know of no reason to not continue them as written, however. It is not desirable to use recipes with 'numbers' of peppers, tomatoes, etc., and we no longer do this in new recipes.
As we are developing NCHFP pickled products, we have not been relying just on a formula approach or any standardized ratios. We have tested each of our new products several times, measuring actual pH values and changes during preparation. As long as the pH makes the product safe for boiling water canning, amounts may then be related to flavor and taste, amount of liquid needed for consistency, etc. Different ingredients will acidify differently, also. There is no one ratio-fits-all for pickled food products, as many factors influence decisions for various kinds of products.
Hope this helps.
Elizabeth Andress
--------------------------------------
Elizabeth L. Andress, Ph.D.
Project Director, National Center for HFP"

as you will note there are no cukes or celery in the UCA/Davis recipe ... but if pepper relish is what you're after ... here's a tested recipe that isn't a-wash in vinegar. It's what I'm using if I can afford pappers this year -- drought, you know.
Kay

I had to read Dr. Andress' answer on that a couple of times to sort out what pertains.

So in the case of the pepper relish the relatively low amount of vinegar is OK but really there's no way to know if it's OK for the original posted recipe, even though the ratio is approximately the same (7:1) because the pH of the product may differ and there are also issues of density, water content of the various vegetables, etc.

There is no definitive answer, but you can come close if, as I said, you look for a safe-tested recipe which uses the same sorts of veggies in comparable proportions. The one I referred to has cucumbers, peppers and onions, no celery and different proportions, so it's not there either.

Still, I feel more comfortable with the additional vinegar.

Of course, it can be a dangerous fallacy to go with what we "feel" on these things. Ideally with low-acid product sticking with tested recipes or getting assurances from the NCHFP is the way to go.

Carol

actually, Carol, there are 19 cups of low acid veggies in the recipe link you posted (3 cups EACH of red and green peppers -- don't you hate it when they write recipes like that?) -- that's a 1/3.3 ratio and cateyanne's corrected ratio would be 1/3.6 adding 1/3 cup vinegar would bring it in line, but it still has cukes and celery.

BTW, I also asked Dr Andres about the Vidalia Onion Relish I had questioned in earlier threads. It has 4 cups vinegar and 24 cups onions (plus 4 oz canned pimento). It's a UGA recipe available at
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/uga_pickled_products.pdf

In the same eMail she gave it the OK, with the same caveats.

Fortunately, both of these tested recipes are just what I'm after veggie-wise and the amount of vinegar is okay to my taste buds ... but it sure would be nice to feel comfortable substituting veggies (not just seasonings)
-Kay

Sorry but it doesn't sound safe to me because of the cukes and celery (not to mention really salty ;). Both are heavily "water veggies" and the water content of those is going to dilute your vinegar even further.

Just something to consider.

Dave

I'm sorry to sound so confused, but can I salvage this combination of vegetables I have already diced and soaked? I haven't added any of the spices, vinegar or sugar yet. I guess I'm not sure what to do next?

oops ... didn't realize we were dealing with a recipe in progress ... You've already soaked and drained, right?
Hopefully, carol will come on line early ... it's still about 7:30 out west.
I'd up the vinegar in your recipe to 4 1/2 cups ... (that's 1/3.1 -- the tested recipe Carol posted is 1/3.3)
--Kay

I'll process it with the 4 1/2 cups vinegar then. Unless anyone has objections....? One more question, If I'm changing the vinegar quantity does the sugar or anything else have to be changed as well? Thanks a bunch.

you might taste after the mixture has heated up and if the vinegar is overwhelming, add a bit of sugar ... but you already have more sugar than vinegar, so I think you're good to go.

thanks katskats, I do appreciate your help.

your recipe has me thinking about including celery in one of my recipes ... please let me know if it kept any of its crunch... Kay